Persevering Prayer and Serving the Lord
(Mal 3:13-20; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 11:5-13)
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A man and his wife are awakened at 3 o’clock in the morning by a loud pounding on the door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push. “Not a chance,” says the husband, “it is 3 o’clock in the morning!” He slams the door and returns to bed. “Who was that?” asked his wife. “Just some drunk guy asking for a push,” he answers. “Did you help him?” she asks. “No, I did not, it is 3 o’clock in the morning and it is pouring out there!” “Well, you have a short memory,” says his wife. “Can’t you remember about three months ago when we broke down and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself!” The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain. He calls out into the dark, “Hello, are you still here?” “Yes” comes back the answer. “Do you still need a push?” calls out the husband. “Yes, please!” comes the reply from the dark. “Where are you?” asks the husband. “Over here on the swing!” replies the drunk.
That amusing story was brought to mind by today’s gospel on persistent prayer. Actually, the readings today offer two distinct messages: to serve God wholeheartedly, and to pray with persistence.
In the gospel, Jesus teaches us to persevere in prayer, to keep on seeking, knocking and asking. We can and should turn to the scriptures to see what to pray for, and that is made plain by Jesus himself in the next few words: “How much more so will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.” That is basically what we need to knock and ask God for – the gift of the Holy Spirit, because that is the best of the good things that God can give to us. If we are filled with the Holy Spirit, all the rest will take care of itself. In the end, it is very simple – we just need to ask the Father to give us the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, and God will always answer that prayer because that is what God wants to give us.
Step eleven of the 12 Step program is very similar: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, seeking only the knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry it out. There is a triple seeking here – a closer, more intimate relationship with God, what is God’s will for us, and the power to carry out God’s will (that power is the Holy Spirit).
The psalm also adds the importance of praying with scripture. “They are happy who delight in the law of the Lord and who meditate on it day and night” – they will be grounded securely in faith and be able to weather any storms that life might throw at them.
The first reading stresses serving God: “you shall see the difference between … one who serves God, and one who does not serve him.” We are to be faithful and single-minded in doing God’s will and serving the Lord, even when it seems that those who do not serve God prosper. The book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” written by Rabbi Kuschner, relates to this reading that raises that frustrating situation of evil people seeming to prosper and the good seeming to struggle. In the words of Malachi, “Evildoers not only prosper, but when the put God to the test they escape.”
Certainly, we can all relate to that situation of bad things happening to us when we are trying to be good. My brother Louis was diagnosed with cancer at the age of sixty, and then struggled to overcome it for four years until it finally claimed his life at age 65. Louis was an honest, hard-working farmer, husband and father of four children who doted on him. My sister-in-law Judy quit her job as a nurse to take care of him at home, and could not help but wonder why this happened to them, just as they were about to retire and enjoy their sunset years together, especially when they did their best to live their Catholic faith and raised their children to follow the Lord.
The birthday party before Louis passed away.
That same reading, however, includes a promise of vindication: the righteous shall belong to God, they will be God’s special possession on the day when God acts. Suffering will teach us new meaning to life, and give us a deeper peace and joy when there is acceptance. What we need to do is stay the course; be faithful; hope in God; immerse ourselves in God’s Word, and above all pray for the strength of the Holy Spirit.
There is another saying in scripture that God turns all things to the good for those who love him. God doesn’t prevent our suffering, but will always draw good out of it, even if that suffering ends in death. In my brother’s case, his illness pulled the family together like never before. His children made a point of coming home as often as they could, and their children got to know and love their cousins as they never would have otherwise. Now they delight in gathering each summer on the farm for quality family time.
The Eucharist makes present the love of the Son whose death on the Cross the Father did not prevent. That is the epitome of bad things happening to a good person. Jesus, so secure in the Father’s love, was able to freely offer his life to reveal the depth of the Father’s love, and that is the core of any celebration of the Eucharist.
May our celebration help us to be steadfast in faith and love, even if the evil seems to prosper; hope in God and ponder God’s word even when things are not going our way, and trust in God and persevere in prayer even when God seems to be silent.
